Without Words
by wakawaka22
Summary: Aomine and Kuroko meet by chance. Aomine is having funny thoughts and Kuroko waits patiently. Many breezes blow by. (Fluff)


**First after a long hiatus. First in KuroBasu. Hints of Aokuro.**

* * *

"Hey," he said, hands in his pockets. He was hit with a wave of sudden awkwardness. This was going to be nowhere near what he had expected - this was going to be so, so much worse.

For instance, did he still have the right to call Kuroko Tetsuya 'Tetsu'? Or had that changed, as well? Should he start addressing this midget as 'Tetsuya-kun'? It seemed all sorts of wrong, somehow. Yet, his old 'Tetsu' seemed too informal, too casual, too intimate.

And that brought him to his next problem. 'Intimate'. Who the hell used such words in their head?! When thinking about another boy?! It was like Tetsu somehow brought the best out of him; he felt the need to be gentlemanly, he felt the need to be sophisticated, he felt the need to _impress_. And maybe, sort of, it had been there all along, but lately this feeling had only been amplified. Especially after Kuroko had left him. Huh. He never quite got used to that. Apparently, Tetsu got over it pretty damn fast. Ought to, too, seeing as he had been the one to instigate it.

Aomine carried on his internal monologue, oblivious to the very subject of his musings standing right in front of him. Kuroko sipped on his vanilla shake idly - as expected, Aomine hadn't realised he'd actually left to buy said shake. Nevermind that he'd had to use a bit more of his diversion power than usual - Aomine always did seem to notice him more than the others did. Which was nice, in a way. Annoying, when he wanted to be overlooked.

Aomine hadn't said anything since that awkward 'hey'. He had seemed to want to follow that up with something, but bit it back at the last minute. Or maybe Kuroko was wrong. He sipped on his shake.

"Hey, uh." Aomine scratched his head. "Wanna play a game?"

Kuroko looked at him curiously. Or not. It was hard to tell. "I thought you hated basketball."

A million and one things ran through Aomine's mind before it completely blanked out. What.

_Not really_.  
_It changed after you beat me in that game.  
It changed after I saw you.  
I just needed to say something.  
I didn't really understand hate until you left.  
I didn't really understand hate until Kagami came along._

What. Definitely not that last two. What sort of places were his mind going to?! The gutter. Images of Kuroko mixed with women. Images of sweaty Kuroko mixed with sweaty women. Images of Kuroko. Sweaty.

Nonononononono! Aomine wanted to slam his head against a wall. What the heck. Maybe his friends were right, and he really did have a dirty mind. What friends. Nevermind.

"Uh. Not really." He didn't follow it up with an explanation. Kuroko was quiet for a while, before nodding and getting up. The game was a short one. Kuroko, although having improved his stamina, was still no match for Aomine. His shirt was soaked not only from that game, but the previous one as well, where he and Kagami had played street basketball with a group of random players only to realise Aomine was one of them. They got trashed, obviously. While good, they were still no match for Aomine alone, especially with a couple other players thrown in. Aomine had shown more teamwork, surprisingly, although the other players were way below the rest of Touou's team, let alone Aomine. Kagami, while reluctant to leave Kuroko alone with Aomine, had had to rush home, leaving them with their current situation. Aomine himself was sweating just a bit.

Kuroko started on his abandoned shake.

"You really are slow, with that thing."

They hadn't spoken throughout the game, so this was the fourth sentence from Aomine that day. He gestured to the beverage in Kuroko's hands. Kuroko didn't let on that he'd finished it before his game with Aomine. He sucked at foam.

They sat side-by-side on the bench until nightfall. An hour was a long time to sit without saying anything. Kuroko had given up on his pretence, instead just sitting there. Aomine seemed to be deep in thought again. A breeze blew by. Shirt still wet, Kuroko shivered a bit. Normal people wouldn't have noticed.

"You're cold, aren't you? C'mere."

Aomine wasn't sure what he was doing. He held out a hand. Kuroko shifted closer, into Aomine's open arm. They were still awkward. Aomine wasn't sure how a single arm around shoulders was supposed to help his friend's temperature problem. Plus, he was starting to feel a little hot. At exactly where his skin met Kuroko's. He wondered if it would be a little much to attribute it to coincidence.

Another breeze blew by. Aomine wasn't sure why they sat out here, especially with Kuroko shivering, when they could be inside a warm, cozy place somewhere. At least it was deserted. He was surprised when Kuroko suddenly snuggled into his side. It was still awkward. Especially for someone as manly as him - ahem -, to be cuddling with a little boy. Not that Kuroko was little. After all, how would he know? It wasn't like he stared at Tetsu in the showers back when they were in middle-school, anyway. And he should've grown since then, right? And - and what the hell was he talking about?! Again?! First the porn and then the - nevermind. Aomine's brain will shut up now and get itself the hell out of the gutter.

He still felt hot where Kuroko touched him. He pulled the other boy closer. The warmth seemed to take away the awkwardness, in more ways than one. He felt the urge to place a kiss in the light blue hair beneath his chin. It would be so convenient. Maybe next time.

They sat in silence. It was enough.

* * *

**:)**


End file.
